Dreaming
by Kurt's Anatomy
Summary: Emily dreams of a strange blonde girl. When she sees her moving in across the street, she doesn't hesitate before getting to know her. Emily soon realises she's in for more than just love when she gets involved with Alison DiLaurentis
1. I See You

Chapter 1- I See You

* * *

 _Shapes, moving quickly across the dark floor._

 _Lights flickering wildly from all directions._

 _Voices yelling at them to slow down and surrender._

 _Footsteps echoing around the street._

 _Emily looks to her left, seeing the blonde girl chewing her lips as they flit through the familiar gap in the fence, the field opening up to them._

" _Hey, wait!" Emily calls to her as they come to a halt, realising that nobody is pursuing them. In fact, the scene around them has changed, daylight peeking through the trees, leaving shattered shadows on the grassy terrain below Emily's boots. Since when was she wearing boots? She distinctly remembers running across the road in the low soles of her sneakers. The only pair of sneakers she owns._

" _What's wrong, Em? Is this not what you wanted?" The girl gestures to the sheer romanticism of the meadow that greets their eyes. "I thought you wanted something happy in your life after everything that's happened to you. This is happiness, right here. With me. Isn't it?"_

 _Emily knows she is dreaming, but she still doesn't recognise the girl beside her, the one who subsequently holds out her hand for Emily to take._

 _So she takes it. It feels warm in hers. It feels right._

" _I'm happy," she whispers, staring up at the cracked sunlight and breathing in the fresh air around her._

Emily's eyes flutter open, the beeping of a truck awaking her. It is a reassuring sound for her to wake up to when she is usually greeted with the unsettling buzz of her phone signalling a text from whoever –A was. Quickly unwrapping herself from her cocoon, she pads to the window, rubbing the weariness from her eyes.

Staring at the familiar street that she has known since childhood, she notices the addition of a moving truck and a family of four unloading their possessions from the back. The last family, the St. Germain family hadn't stayed in the house for very long, considering it a temporary home until they discovered where they truly wanted to go. Maya, the daughter, told Emily that they were soul-searching in Rosewood. Emily often wonders how one can find themselves in a small, gossipy town like Rosewood.

Emily thinks she sees a wisp of blonde hair by the door, but plays it off as her dream lingering in her waking moments.

She takes a moment to ponder her latest trip inside her unconscious.

Her heart had been hammering so quickly when the girl had taken her hand. She had been happy. Until she woke up to her reality of closeted identities and anonymous cyber stalkers. The only true moments of happiness that Emily has felt were in the dream meadow as the latest sequence unfolded. She doesn't know quite how feelings can transfer themselves into dreams, but she isn't sure she wants to find out. Her brain sounds like a lot like Spencer at the moment.

"Emily!" Her mother, Pam, calls from downstairs. "Go introduce yourself to the new family moving in. I've prepared a fruit basket for you to take to them."

Emily rolls her eyes, in good spirits of course. Her mother has always been one to want to be amicable with everybody on the street, even if some aren't as welcoming in return.

She dresses quickly, brushing her hair a few times to unknot the damage that her somewhat restless sleep had done. She brushes her teeth and applies a light layer of makeup so that the neighbours don't notice her recent awakening.

Skipping downstairs, Emily swipes the basket from the countertop and ignores her mother's voice floating after her, telling her to make a good first impression and maybe invite them over for dinner one night this week.

It doesn't take long to get there, of course. Maybe twenty seconds after Emily leaves her house. From what she can see through the truck window, there is only one person still unloading boxes. The rest must have gone inside, she reckons.

Passing in front of the truck, Emily stops dead as she sees her new neighbour with her striking appearance. Emily does a double take and lists her attributes.

Beautiful blue eyes.

Charming smile.

Statuesque figure.

 _Flowing blonde locks._

"Can I help you with something?" The girl asks and Emily knows she's the exact same girl from the meadow an hour prior to these words.

"Uh…um…you're moving in, right?"

"No, we're just putting all of our things inside the house to see how it looks," the girl deadpans in reply. "I'm kidding," she adds at Emily's short nod, "we're not weird. I'm Alison DiLaurentis. My friends called me Ali."

"Emily. Fields. My mom sent me over with this. Welcome to the neighbourhood." Emily isn't _really_ paying that much attention, but it's because she's paying _too much_ attention to Alison.

"Oh, mangoes. Your mom sure knows how to welcome a girl to the street. Tell her we said thanks?"

Emily manages to clear her throat and dampen her rapidly drying mouth. "Yeah, sure. She wanted to know whether your family wants to come over for dinner sometime. And before you fret about imposing, she won't take no for an answer. She's stubborn like that."

Alison chuckles, a light sound that dims the entire world in Emily's view. All she can see is Alison DiLaurentis, a girl who she has somehow envisioned before actually seeing her. "I'll talk to my mom about it and get back to you?"

"Okay. Do you need any help unpacking? Unloading, I mean. Unloading."

Alison looks from Emily to the boxes. "Do you mind? There's like one more box and I'm starving!" Alison smiles sweetly as Emily kindly grabs the last box, carrying it into the open doorway. "Thanks so much! I'd better get inside, but it was nice meeting you, Emily. I'll see you around sometime, I'm sure."

Emily nods, perhaps too enthusiastically. "We live ten seconds away from each other, you won't be able to get rid of me."

As Alison goes inside, Emily turns her back on the DiLaurentis house, frowning at herself for being such a dork. She's usually composed in front of attractive girls.

The reality is that Alison isn't just another Maya.

She's mysterious and somehow Emily has seen her before.

She just doesn't know where.

And the hardest part is that Emily knows she won't be able to think about anything else other than the deliciously alluring smile belonging to Alison DiLaurentis.


	2. Burning

Chapter 2- Burning

* * *

Emily can't help the squirming feeling she feels in her stomach when her mother announces that she had been talking to Jessica DiLaurentis, Alison's mother, about the prospect of them coming for a dinner to welcome them to the neighbourhood. She thinks that it is quite pathetic that she's feeling so out of control about a girl she only met once while she was awake. That sounds weird and would sound weird to anybody who isn't her and doesn't know what she is going through.

"Wait, did you just say 'today'?" Emily enquires of her mother, who shrugs.

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

Emily quickly shakes her head. "No, I just wanted to know. I was going to stay at school and do some extra time in the pool, but I can come home if we're having guests over."

Pam beams. "I'm not sure when you became neighbourly, but it's a good look on you. The DiLaurentises are coming by around seven, so you could still get some practise in if you needed to."

"Thanks, Mom. Do you want me to help with dinner?"

Pam smirks. "When I see you master microwave meals, I'll let you know about getting a promotion up to the stove."

"Funny," Emily chuckles as she swings her bag over her shoulder and kisses her mother on the cheek. "I'm meeting the girls at the Grille, but I'll see you later for dinner."

"Have a nice day, sweetie. Love you."

"Love you," Emily calls back as she heads out.

* * *

Emily meets up with her friends as she always does, the thoughts of Alison swirling around her brain, making it hard for her to focus. They find their way to their regular table at the Grille and assemble around it. Emily is happy to have something to take her mind off Alison and the fact that she likes girls. Her friends have no idea, nobody does. Except for Maya, but that's ancient history. She has no idea how she's going to come clean about it to her friends. She knows that they love her very much, but things will change, won't they?

"So, did you hear that a family moved into the St Germain house yesterday?" Hanna starts abruptly.

"I thought that was just a rumour. I'm surprised they didn't find that Maya girl's voodoo doll collection. Man, she was weird," Spencer comments derisively. "Em, they're across the street from your house, did you see anyone?"

Emily nods. She's excited to be talking about Alison to somebody. "A family, two parents and two kids. Well, from what I saw anyway. The girl looks about our age." Emily definitely omits the part about her being the mystery girl from her very vivid dream. "My mom invited them over for dinner tonight, so I'll know some more then." She ignores what Spencer had said about Maya and concentrates on her drinks menu. She knows that she would only be drinking water due to her new training regime, but she needs something to focus on or she might just spill all of her secrets.

"I guess we'll see her around school. Is she nice?" Aria asks.

"I spoke to her a little, but I didn't really learn much about her. Shall we order?" Emily knows that she's being weird and she knows that her friends have picked up on it, but she couldn't care about that right now.

"God, I'm starving," Hanna moans, "I'm definitely getting a huge bowl of pasta. Spence?"

"Club sandwich. I'm guessing Aria's getting some kind of salad."

"You say that like it's boring."

"It's salad," Hanna frowns, "how is it not boring?"

Aria just shrugs. "As long as you're all okay with killing animals for your food."

Emily just shakes her head and says that she only wants water. "I know my mom's going to go overboard for the DiLaurentis family tonight and make so much food I might throw up. I'd better not eat anything until then."

"Wait, did you say DiLaurentis?" Aria tilts her head.

Emily nods. "Why, do you recognise the name?"

Hanna blinks quickly. "It's not exactly common."

Spencer nods. "I heard it on the news, I'm sure of it. Oh my god! Isn't she that girl who faked her own disappearance? Alison, or something?"

Aria clicks her fingers. "I knew I recognised it. Man, that case was messed up."

Emily sits, as still as she can, processing Spencer's words in her mind. Alison couldn't be _that_ girl, could she? She remembers Pam telling her about it, warning Emily never to scare her like that. Emily had thought it strange, a girl just pretending to be missing. It was never revealed _why_ , only that somebody had found her and brought her to her family where the truth had come out that she had planned it all. Emily had felt sorry for her at the time, but now there is a whole other emotion swirling around in her brain that she can't identify.

"Em, you okay? You're being quiet." Hanna wonders.

She nods reflexively. "Yeah, just thinking about Alison." It wasn't a lie.

"How could someone do something like that to her family?"

Emily swallows her next words and shrugs. "No idea."

After dreaming about Alison and meeting her and thinking about her, Emily just _knows_ that there is something more to this story. There has to be. Something that Alison hadn't told anybody. Something that she doesn't want anybody to know, perhaps for their own good.

Emily shudders as her water comes and she thinks about Alison all the while.

* * *

"Emily, could you pass the salt, please?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Sorry mom."

"Thanks, honey."

"You have a lovely home, Pam. I have all of these interior design ideas for the house but Kenneth thinks I'm being much too postmodern for our taste."

Kenneth snorts. "You are. But who am I to stop you when you get an idea in your head?"

"I promise I'm not as pretentious as my mother," Alison smirks at Emily, who blushes.

"I promise I'm not as tightly wound as my mother."

Alison tilts her head.

"I actually have a scrapbook filled with ideas of interior designs from almost every movement if I can be of any help to you."

Emily gives Alison a pointed look.

"Okay, so maybe she's a _little_ tightly wound."

They chat as they eat, dinner soon coming to its conclusion, a considerable amount of food surplus to their requirements. Emily groans.

"What's up?" Alison asks.

"I'll be having this for dinner tomorrow night."

"It was good, though," she shrugs in reply.

The dull chatter of the adults is not Emily's favourite sound. Her mother loves to talk about her house and her garden and everything involving how much time she spends on appearances.

"Any chance we can escape this?"

"I'm sure they won't mind if we're not here to talk about the lawn. Mom? Alison and I are going to go up to my room for a little while."

Pam nods. "Sure, sweetie. Hope you enjoyed your dinner, Alison."

"It was lovely, thank you Mrs Fields."

Emily rolls her eyes so her mother can't see her.

"Ali, we'll call for you when we're about to leave, okay?"

"Sure, Mom," Ali replies as they head up to Emily's bedroom.

Emily's heart hammers in her chest. Alison is in her bedroom. She doesn't properly understand why exactly that makes her so giddy, but it does. It is a feeling she doesn't get to experience much, so she decides to run with it, to see how it makes her feel.

"Nice room," Alison smiles as she surveys her surroundings.

"Thanks. This was the only design input I was allowed. I thought I'd make it personal."

Alison perches on the bed and Emily follows suit. She figures that it's a testament to Alison's personality that she would lead, even in unfamiliar environments.

"So, how are you liking Rosewood?"

Emily swears she sees Alison blush, if only faintly. The blonde tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear. "It's nice, from what I can tell. The people are really friendly. There doesn't seem to be much drama."

"Just wait until there's an opportunity for everyone to volunteer for something. Everyone tries to outdo each other and it gets really messy," Emily chuckles. She is surprised with how at ease she feels around Alison, despite the squirming that's currently going on in her stomach.

"I bet Pam has a great time."

"She always makes more food than anybody else, though Mrs Marin usually gives her a run for her money. It's pretty competitive."

"The Rosewood Olympics in baking."

"You joke, but that's exactly what it feels like around here. When do you start at school?"

"Tomorrow," Alison smiles. "I'm a little nervous."

"Oh, don't be, you'll fit right in. I can drive you, if you want. Unless your mom needs to sign paperwork or something."

"No, she did it all already. She's anal for stuff like that. I'd love a ride to school, actually. I'd normally be stuck with my brother driving me."

"Jason seems nice."

Alison rolls her eyes. "He's a dork. We moved in yesterday and he's already had three girls ask for his number."

"That must get annoying."

"Only because he does _not_ know how to speak to them without sounding like a dork. When I want a girl's number, I know exactly how to ask for it."

Emily does a double take. "T-That must come in handy."

"It does. But there are rarely any girls who capture my interest."

"I'm sure you capture theirs," Emily mutters before thinking about it. "I mean…um…"

"Em, it's fine. I know what you meant and thank you for saying it. That's really sweet of you."

Emily just smiles, hoping the awkwardness will wash away.

"Alison!" Jessica shouts from downstairs.

"Oh, gotta run! See you tomorrow, Em!" Alison ropes her in for a quick hug before dashing down the stairs. "Thank you for being so nice!"

Emily just stares after her, wondering where exactly she would go from here.

It's only after Alison leaves that Emily remembers the conversation she had with the girls at the Grille about Alison being on the news. Now it's all she can think about. Her mind processes one question more than the others.

Is Alison dangerous?


	3. Home Isn't A Place

Chapter 3- Home Isn't A Place

* * *

Emily beeps the horn reluctantly as she waits for Alison to emerge from her house across the street.

She feels a buzzing feeling in her stomach at the thought of seeing Alison's flowing blonde locks once more in person. She had dreamt about Alison the previous night, just flashes of her face, twisting into different environments, all of them positive.

All thoughts of Alison being dangerous have dissipated from her mind and she's now focused on making it through thirty minutes in an enclosed space with Alison without leaning over and kissing her. Emily wonders whether there's something on Alison's end, too, because she had felt something, a spark, yesterday in her bedroom. Through the hugs, the winks, the smiles, Emily thinks she discovered something. Apart from the fact that she's hopelessly infatuated with Alison DiLaurentis, of course.

Her mind flashes back to the intonation that Alison seems to have adopted when saying her name. Three short syllables, emphasis on the first, her sultry voice skipping through the sounds like it's all a game, the objective to make Emily's head spin, to make her question everything.

Her head hurts.

In that moment, she makes a bold decision.

Emily's going to come out to her friends. She knows without a doubt that they'll accept her, maybe even thinks that Spencer knows something's different about her since she realised who she was. Spencer's intuitive, it's more than possible that she's known longer than Emily has.

She's ready; she's been ready ever since Maya left. Even though that particular relationship hadn't brought Emily much happiness towards the end, it had given her the courage to be herself, something she greatly admires about Maya. Maya had never apologised for her bisexuality, her carefree spirit or anything else about her. Not that she should have had to, of course. Emily just appreciated how she didn't let anything faze her.

Emily has a slight feeling that Alison DiLaurentis is going to be much the same way, once she gets to know her a little bit more. She wonders if it's pattern that she falls for ballsy, confident women who know who they are and don't bother apologising for it.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself. Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough. Mostly I was just thinking about…how the day was going to pan out. It kinda distracted me for a while, but I managed to get through it and fall asleep."

"That's…good, sleep is good. As for today, I don't think you'll have many problems adjusting. Most of the students here are pretty laidback and new students don't really get a hard time from anyone. Obviously, people will ask you where you're from and why you moved to Rosewood and if you like it here, the standard small talk, but people should leave you to yourself unless you involve yourself. Rosewood is a pretty good school."

"They'll probably recognise me."

"Uh…why w-would they recognise you? Are you on YouTube or something?"

"I know you know, Em. You don't have to pretend that you don't. Everybody knows the time I was on the news. People are going to think that I'm some kind of freak."

"How could they?" Emily gapes, she doesn't mean to say that aloud.

"That's sweet, Em, but you know the story. They're just going to assume."

"Don't let them do it. Tell your own version of the story, the truth. Make sure they don't confuse rumour with fact."

"I can't. I can't tell everybody the truth. I just can't."

"As long as you know the truth, then what does it matter what people think?" Emily breathes in deep and brushes Alison's wrist with her slender fingers to show her support. Alison's head tilts slightly and she smiles.

"I guess you're right. Thank you."

Alison doesn't realise it, but Emily has just helped herself with her own mission of the day. She finds that she doesn't actually care what people think about her, not like her mother and the rest of Rosewood. She can be herself. She has trust in herself, she knows her own truths.

She can do this.

"No problem. Are you ready to get going?"

"I think so. Yeah, let's do it."

"You'll be fine, I promise. I'll be around if you need me, Ali. Sorry, I didn't know if you liked Ali or—I should've asked you."

"No, don't be silly! Ali is good. All the people closest to me call me Ali. It's nice that you do too."

"Well, okay! Let's go."

The drive to school is quick. They mostly talk about general things. They avoid the subject of Alison's reputation in the media entirely. They avoid anything heavy. Emily talks about her swim meets, Alison talks about life around Rosewood. It's a comfortable discussion, neither too pressed or forced to say something. The conversation flows very easily and Emily hasn't had that kind of fluidity outside of her girls in a while. Not even with her own mother.

Oh god.

Her mother.

If she's going to come out to her friends, her mother is the logical next step. And Emily doesn't think she can do that. But what if it gets out. She doesn't think that Aria, Hanna, or Spencer would ever tell anybody something like that, but she's not counting on one thing.

-A.

She's sure –A is going to use it against her and, yet _another_ frightening thought comes into her mind.

-A is going to use Alison against her.

She briefly considers cutting off their friendship right there and then just to save them both the heartache, but she doesn't think she can do that. Alison is too important already, too central to her dreams, too alluring to let go of.

Instead, she gives the girl a winning smile and offers to show her around school. Alison explains that she's already been assigned a peer mentor and that she would see Emily later, tentatively hinting that she wants to join Emily and her friends for lunch. Emily extends the offer, of course, and Alison accepts with a gracious smile. Emily feels special and proud for being the one to put that smile on her face. It's an honour.

First period, it turns out, is her ideal moment.

She had planned to wait until after school, but when just she and her friends are in a deserted space, alone? Nothing could have turned out better for her to tell them.

"Guys," she broaches, "I have something I need to say."

They turn to her quickly, a simple smile on each of their faces. Spencer looks alarmed.

"Is everything okay, Em?"

Emily nods. "Oh yeah, absolutely. I just…there's something that I want you guys to know about me."

Here goes.

 _Okay, any day now, Emily,_ she thinks to herself. Hanna is staring at her expectantly and Aria is confused. Spencer just stares.

"I'm…a lesbian."

She expects shock, given that her ex-boyfriend Ben exists. She expects them to shrug it off. In the tiny crevices in the back of her mind, she expects hints of disgust. Maybe even them walking away as her worst nightmares have told her that they'll do.

"I know," Spencer summarises.

Emily blinks in confusion. "What?"

Spencer shrugs. "I've suspected for a while."

Aria and Hanna are more shocked about it.

"We still love you the exact same way, Em."

She hears Aria say those words and tears come to her eyes. Hanna puts an arm around her waist and lays her head on Emily's shoulder.

"Nothing has changed, if that's what you were worried about."

Emily tilts her head. "I guess you never truly know how someone's going to take it until you know."

Aria frowns. "Wait, is this why you were sneaking off a lot recently? Were you going to see a girl?"

Emily bites her lip. "Maya."

Spencer nods. "Makes sense. She's exactly your type."

"Are you inside my head or something? How are you so sure about things I've even had to question?"

Spencer smiles softly. "It's who you are. You're breezy, you like to go along with other people's ideas. Maya was headstrong and you liked the idea of not knowing what she was going to do next. It adds up when you think about it."

"So you guys really have no problem with it?"

Hanna shrugs. "Why would we? You're still the exact same Emily that we love, just now you like to bang girls. And that doesn't really concern us, so we don't have a right to be affronted by it."

Emily smiles widely. "Thank you. I…god, that's such a weight off my shoulders."

"Have you told your mom?"

Someone has to say it.

Emily chuckles lightly. "Do I tell Pam Fields, maybe the most conservative person I've ever known, that her daughter isn't going to marry a well-to-do Christian man and have children in wedlock, rather spend her life with a woman who probably has a nose piercing or something? I don't exactly know where to begin."

"Makes sense."

They spend the period just talking, not all about Emily's confession, but some. They talk about –A, what their next move might be and they even talk about Alison. Emily asks them if she can sit with them and, after some persuasion, they all agree to give her a chance. That's such a relief to Emily, she didn't want to have to turn Alison away at the behest of her friends. At least now she won't have to and maybe they can all be friends together.

Or, as Emily hopes with Alison, something much more than that.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Honestly, I hadn't expected to update this again for a long time, maybe if ever, but I was watching the show and felt compelled to write some more Emison! I'm not sure if more updates should be expected so soon, honestly it depends on my motivation and time spent on other stories. Definitely stick around though, I have big plans for this one.


End file.
